I was riding within 3 weeks of arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus. Mine was a small tear that they just needed to smooth things out and clean things up. Since there aren't many muscles in the knee (just tendons and ligaments) the pain was very minimal compared to my arthroscopic shoulder surgery. I would also suggest using a surgeon who works on professional athletes or one comes highly recomended from someone you trust. Not all orthopedic surgeons are the same.

i had mine repaired at the same time as ACL reconstruction so this may not help but from the day of surgery to my first hockey practice was 3 months to the day. so i'd guess that a "simple" meniscus repair would be about a month?

The Miniscus is a sorta "shock absorber" between the bones of the leg. When you have your Miniscus "smoothed" you will lose some of the "shock absorber". A good knee brace holds your leg bones in an angle that puts the stress of impact on the side where the Miniscus is doing it's job. That all being said, three weeks after orthoscopic on my Miniscus I was surfing, and wakeboarding within a month. Build leg strength, keep the swelling down, and get yourself a good knee brace

What kind(style) knee brace do you use for it? i had my right meniscus repaired, but my left is still torn. the left hurts pretty bad after riding, and lately the right one has been really sore too (maybe it's something different?) but just wondering what kind of brace would help the most. thanks!

Jethro- My initial injury was a severe hpyerextension where the meniscus actually shot out from between the bones, so that the bones hit each other. The meniscus slipped back into place, but it had torn a bit. For the most part, I still jump the same. I definitely avoid landing flat, but that's something everybody should do.

Im still waiting for an appt for my MRI. That will make it official. Right now its just the docs diagnosis. His diagnosis was based on what I described when the injury occured and his personal evaluation of testing my knee mobility.

I use a brace made by OMNI out of Oceanside, CA. There are many manufacturers- make sure you tell them what sports you're involved in so they can make one out of the right materials and design for you-

I've heard nothing but good things about the CTI braces. However I'm pretty sure the purpose of any major brace, such as the CTI, is to support (or replace) the ACL. Braces really won't be much help for meniscus damage and can lead your knee ligaments to eventually become weaker as they learn to rely on its support. My orthopedic surgeon suggested against the big braces for both my torn meniscus and (more recently) a partialy torn MCL.

"I would also suggest using a surgeon who works on professional athletes or one comes highly recommended from someone you trust. Not all orthopedic surgeons are the same."

Matts's advice is more important than you think!

I had a 'bucket handle' tear and some other tears and bone shaving repaired. It took me 4 weeks to feel like I could do some sort of hard activity. I got a release in 6 weeks. Rehab is also key. The quad is one of the fastest muscles to atrophy in the body. It still hurt to kneel on that knee for months if not a year. You hear about some pro athletes that are back on the field in two weeks. That can happen but not realistic. ACLs and MCLs are a different animal completely. I also tore my patella tendon dunking and that was 10 times worse recovery.

i just came back from my orthopaedic doctors visit today..ive had MRI's and x-Rays..MRI's show meniscus..i tore mine but not sure where..my ACL pulled off the bone..didnt tear ..but when i pulled it bone came with it like a chunk of bone..so all he needs to do with mine in screw it back on..and when hes in there hes going to clean up my knee from the meniscus and bone fragments..he tells me if the meniscus tore in a place that is needed i will need surgery to correct that..what they do is rough up the bone and drill holes in it..what grows back is meniscus but not very good meniscus..not as good as what your born with thats all they can do with todays technology!! anyays if that happens he says ill be off my feet complelty for 12 weeks...her says 2-3 months ill be back and wakeboarding ..just in time for snowboarding!! argh i love wakeboarding way better!!

Microfracture "...Drill holes in it.." is a great procedure to aid in the attachment of the ACL to the bone. Dr. Steadman pioneered the use of it on the US Ski team. Pickaboo Street was one of the first athletes to have it done with good results (2 gold medals). Unfortunately, the recovery is longer 4 to 6 months and a brace should be used.